Help - cant get bark off

[loz.]

Hi All,

Have some oak, 2 pieces of sawn trunk, approx 30cm dia, 6 to 8 inches high.

I didnt remove the bark when green and now cant get it off easily.

Any clues or will i just hack away ?


Also as this is cut crossection of the tree ( ie i can see rings ! ) , will i have a nightmare bowling out across the grain ?


Thanks

Loz

 

[jon r]

sounds to me like you are just going to have to get the axe out

 

[jojo]

JonR is right, get the axe out, hard labour is character forming Depending on what you want to make , it may be easier to split the section in halves and carve those. That way you get two bowls, not a bad size at all.

 

[Toddy]

If you wrap the bark in really damp newspaper it will absorb some of the moisture and it *might* help peel the bark off. It's a balance though, since you really don't want to soak the timber. I've seen this done with willow and apple but I just don't know if it'll be so effective on oak.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[fred gordon]

A forester told me that you can get bark off easily if you use a small spade as a peeler. I have tried it and it did save quite a lot of time.

 

[chrisanson]

have you tryed hiting it with a bit ov wood?
chris

 

[baggins]

Howz about a draw knife? I've just managed to shape a piece of 300 yr old oak (pretty well seasoned ) and after burning out the motor on my electric plane i did the job using time old sweat, tears, rather alot of blood and a draw knife and an old wood chisel. (replacing rotten wood in an old house, in case your wondering)
Leo

 

[loz.]

JonR is right, get the axe out, hard labour is character forming Depending on what you want to make , it may be easier to split the section in halves and carve those. That way you get two bowls, not a bad size at all.

Chisel did the job, although took me over 2 hours for the whole piece, can't wait to get stuck in now carving out.

I have two similar peices ( one to be de-barked )

Iwas going to bowl one using embers, and the other my new ( still wrpped unter the xmas tree ) crook knife.

Concerned that using embers on a small peice will split the wood - and way to avoid this ?

Thanks

Loz

 

[leon-b]

what are you going to carve from them ?
leon

 

[spamel]

Just go steady with the ember burning, don't let the bit of wood get tto hot and I suppose it should be OK, although I've only ever done a spoon with an ember and it took a bit of time.

Let us know how you get on!